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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23578291">Part of Your World</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kira_khaleesi/pseuds/kira_khaleesi'>kira_khaleesi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Inspired by Ponyo (2008), Ponyo AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:47:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,493</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23578291</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kira_khaleesi/pseuds/kira_khaleesi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Gender-swapped Ponyo AU.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Part of Your World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyreyButt/gifts">ReyreyButt</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Yes fish can talk and they have facial expressions.<br/>This is based on a Ghibli film where a goldfish turns into a little girl, so. *shrug*</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Part One </b><br/>
“Leia, just let him have a couple more minutes. We’re not that far from home, it’ll be okay.”</p><p>She frowns at Han, and looks out at where their guppy of a child, Ben, swims at the edge of the reef. He has always been an adventurous child, curious about the world beyond their home. Normally, Leia encourages Ben to learn and explore, but the waves have been growing more unsteady all afternoon, and as the sun sets the water is becoming colder than usual. </p><p>A storm is coming. </p><p>Maybe the worst one they have ever seen, given how much choppier the water has grown even in the last couple minutes, and they need to get home. </p><p>Leia swims closer to Han, nudging him with her fin. “Han, we need to go, the waves are getting more aggressive by the second, it’s not safe, especially for Ben; he’s still growing and not strong enough to fight a severe storm like you or I.”</p><p>Han looks around at the swirling waters that surround them, gulping. “Sure thing, Princess.” He swims near the edge of the reef where Ben is. “Ben!” He calls out for his son but there is no answer.</p><p>“Ben!” Once again.</p><p>“Dad! You won’t believe what I found..come down here, it’s something shiny and I’ve almost reached it I just have to wiggle a little-”</p><p>Ben is cut off as the current tugs him away from the shining object he has found lodged in the reef, but it only motivates him to swim towards it harder. He may be little, and not a grown fish yet, but he pushes and pushes until he is just close enough to reach out and tap the object. </p><p>He never gets the chance. The next wave sends him tumbling, and he knocks his head - face first - violently against the side of the reef. As they collide with the reef, the waves grow to a thunderous volume that is only compounded by the pained groans of the reefs’ internal structure. Over all of that sound, Ben thinks he can hear his parents calling his name, but his head hurts so badly that he cannot be sure. Everything fades to black.</p><p> </p><p>When he wakes, Ben is somewhere strange. He is lying on sands that he does not recognize, surrounded by some sort of seaweed that is foreign. Blinking the drowsiness from his eyes, he swims forward only to hit his head on something. This time blinking in confusion, he attempts to swim in a different direction only to once again bump into some sort of foreign barrier. </p><p>His heart rate accelerates as he begins to panic, twisting and turning to try and understand this old new world he has found himself in. Ben is on the verge of another attempt to swim at the invisible object ahead of him, when a sound emanates from behind him. </p><p>Ben spins towards the sound, and comes face to face with a human-looking man dressed in a plain brown robe. </p><p>“Hello, young one.” The man croons, taking a couple of steps closer to Ben.</p><p>Ben frowns. His parents had taught him to be wary of strangers.</p><p>“Ah, don’t worry about that. I am a stranger to you, but not for much longer.”</p><p>Gaping, Ben opens his mouth to speak but then thinks better of it; mom wouldn’t want him to talk to this strange man. </p><p>“But if you don’t talk to me, you won’t find out how I knew what you were thinking.” One of thin eyebrows that sits atop the man’s electric blue eyes raises.</p><p>Ben narrows his eyes. “How did you know?”</p><p>The man grins. “Magic.”</p><p>Ben scoffs, “magic isn’t real, dummy.”</p><p>“Isn’t it?”</p><p>“No. I’ve been to the edge of the reef, you know. I’ve met fish from other places and they all say magic is pretend.”</p><p>Stepping even closer to Ben’s enclosed area, the man scratches his chin. “Well if magic is just pretend, then how did I manage to bring you back to life?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You hit your head quite badly on what I suspect was that reef of yours, you were stuck under a rock and unmoving when I found you. I used my powers to heal the wound on your head and the parts of your body the rock had crushed.” He picks up an object that Ben recognizes as a mirror, “see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”</p><p>The man brings the mirror close to Ben, likely just on the other side of the barrier containing him, and Ben swims forward to see his reflection. He looks the same, like Ben, but now he has a prominent scar across his right eye. </p><p>“Ah yes, the scar.” The man sighs, “magic is, I’m afraid, not perfect. That was the best I could do. A small price to pay for your life.” He shrugs.</p><p>Ben is quiet for a couple of moments, mulling over the strange man’s claim, before he responds. </p><p>“What about my parents?”</p><p>The man frowns. </p><p>“Did you save my parents too?”</p><p>“I’m sorry young one, you are the only one that I found.” He pauses, “here, let me…”</p><p>He proceeds to pick up the small enclosure that contains Ben, and brings it over to a round hole in the side of the room. Once pressed up against it, Ben can see that it is a window out of whatever larger vessel they are inside - maybe a boat? - and on the other side is Ben’s reef. </p><p>The reef has been utterly destroyed. </p><p>Ben tries to stifle his tears, but he’s just a young fish and has never experienced grief of this magnitude; grief of any magnitude at all. And to be shown his home, wrecked, after waking up in a strange place with a strange man...well it’s all a bit too much for little Ben to handle. </p><p>“Not to worry, my young friend. Now that you are here with me, you’ll be safe. And I can even teach you some of my magic if you want.”</p><p>Ben sniffs. “Who are you?”</p><p>“My name is Luke.”</p><p> </p><p>********</p><p> </p><p><b>Part Two</b><br/>
Little Rey Johnson has lived with her Auntie Maz in the house on the hill for a year now. Rey knows it’s been a year, because it was two days after her fifth birthday that her parents went out fishing and never came back. The storm was the worst of the century, some said. </p><p>Rey turned six two days ago, and her parents still haven’t come back.</p><p>So for now, she lives with her Auntie Maz, and she waits. Given how long they’ve been fishing, Rey expects her parents will return with more fish than she could count - she suspects that the boat is overflowing, and that’s why it is taking so long. Luckily, her aunt’s house is on top of the hill in Takodana, which means Rey can easily use her heavy-duty signal-light to send Morse code messages out across the bay.</p><p>She sends one every night before bed, and waits up as long as Auntie Maz will let her to see if there is a response. So far, there has been nothing, but Rey is nothing if not patient. </p><p>This morning, Rey runs down the hill to play in the shallows for a couple of minutes before school. She uses her new toy-boat, a present she received on her birthday, and her usual sand bucket. The boat is a miniature model of the ones her parents use to fish. </p><p>Dumping her sandals on a rock near the shore, Rey rolls up the legs of her pants so as to not wet them while pushing her boat around; Auntie Maz had scolded her yesterday for getting dirty and needing a change of clothes before leaving for school. </p><p>Gently placing her boat on the surface, Rey wades in after it, making boat sounds with her mouth. </p><p>Unbeknownst to Rey, at the exact moment at which she and her aunt had been cutting a birthday cake with a big number six on it, a fish had made its way toward the shore of Takodana. This fish was not an ordinary fish, far from it. Since he had lost his parents in that terrible storm, the fish had been taken in by the wizard Luke and had been learning the ways of magic. Under the tutelage of the wise magician, he had travelled the oceans of the world and been rechristened Kylo Ren.</p><p>Unfortunately, while his powers only grew, Luke still saw fit to keep Kylo enclosed with the other foundlings - other orphans from terrible storms. Kylo knew that Luke only wanted to protect them, but he has always been a curious boy and as fate had it, Rey’s birthday was the day he had decided to escape. </p><p>Not permanently, just for a little while, to see what was out there. </p><p>Kylo had not planned on escaping being so tiring, and after wiggling out of his tank, and out of Luke’s underwater vessel, he had fallen asleep on a jellyfish. </p><p>The jellyfish had been content to carry Kylo at first, he was a small fish and not much of a burden. But after two full days, the poor creature had had enough, and unceremoniously dumped the still-sleeping Kylo off in the shallow water.</p><p>Not a moment later, Rey’s toy boat came to a stop after bumping something in the water. She leans over to see what it is, and gasps.</p><p>“A fish!” She exclaims. </p><p>Stepping carefully, so as to not create any large waves, Rey walks out of the water to grab her bucket from where it rests next to her sandals. Just as carefully, she wades back into the water and slowly submerges her bucket underneath the little fish.</p><p>With a small flourish, she lifts it out of the water. </p><p>Holding the bucket right up to her face, she grins. The fish is orange and white, with black colouring around its head and a scar over one of its eyes. </p><p>“I will call you Ponyo!”</p><p>At the young girl’s excited shout, Kylo Ren stirs in the bucket, rolling to blink blearily at Rey. When he fully opens his eyes, Rey gasps and drops the bucket. It lands back on the water with a soft plop. In her haste to pick the bucket back up, Rey trips on a rock hidden in the sand, her hand landing on a collection of broken shells underwater. </p><p>Gingerly picking up her pail with one hand and holding it up to check that her Ponyo is alright after being jostled, she squints at her finger which now sports a small cut from the edge of one of the shells. Slowly, Rey walks out of the water to place the bucket next to her shoes, before wading back in to collect her little boat. </p><p>All the while, she holds the finger with the cut on it up above her head, just like Auntie Maz taught her. Sitting down next to her bucket, Rey puts her sandals back on.</p><p>“See, Ponyo, when you get a cut, you hold it above your head so it bleeds less.” </p><p>Once her shoes are on, she holds the bucket up so that the fish can more easily see the cut on her finger. Kylo Ren, having just woken up from quite a legendary nap to find himself inside a small red bucket held by a human girl and being called by the name Ponyo, can only blink in confusion at what he is being told. </p><p>He does think maybe he could heal the cut on her finger, though, as healing was one of the more basic aspects of magic that Luke had taught him early on. Kylo also knows, though, that the only reason Luke can understand him when he speaks is some very advanced magic, so this girl will not be able to talk to him. </p><p>Kylo does his best to make eye contact, look to her finger, and then back at her. Rey tilts her head at the fish and frowns.</p><p>Lowering the bucket, Rey squints down at Kylo, and then stares at her finger.</p><p>After a beat, she shrugs, and then brings her finger toward the rim of the bucket. </p><p>Kylo uses the opportunity to swim up and lick her finger as fast as he can, before retreating midway down into the bucket in case she is mad. </p><p>“Ponyo!” Rey shrieks in delight, sticking her finger into the bucket right next Kylo’s face. “Look what you did!” </p><p>There is no longer a cut on her finger. </p><p>Despite her excitement at having found a magical fish - only two days after her birthday, no less - Rey holds the bucket with two hands as she embarks on her very deliberate walk back up the hill to her house. She already dropped the bucket once, and does not want to frighten Ponyo anymore. </p><p>Rey is so entranced with carrying the bucket up the hill that she does not notice the way the waves lap at the shore more aggressively than usual, seeming to almost reach after her as she walks away.</p><p>Kylo, for his part, is content to relax in the bucket for now. This is not exactly what he had planned for his brief escapade into the real world, but so far this human seems to be quite kind. </p><p>“Auntie Maz! Guess what I found at the beach.” Rey beams as she removes her shoes to enter the house. </p><p>“What did you find, sunshine?” Maz washes her hands in the sink, having just finished packing their lunches for the day. </p><p>Rey stands up on her tiptoes and lifts her bucket on to the counter. “A magical fish!”</p><p>Maz hums. “And what makes the fish magical, my dear?”</p><p>Sticking her finger right in front of her aunt’s coke bottle glasses, Rey whispers, “he healed my finger.”</p><p>Before Rey can snatch her finger back, Maz grabs hold of it, keeping it in front of her eyes. Maz frowns.</p><p>“There’s nothing wrong with your finger, Rey.”</p><p>Rey nods solemnly. “Exactly.” She smiles, “and I named him Ponyo!”</p><p>Maz lowers her face to the bucket, and squints at the fish. “Nice to meet you, Ponyo.” She turns to her niece, “now Rey, grab your backpack and let’s get ready to go to school. I’ll wait in the car.”</p><p>Rey skips away to grab her school things, and returns a few moments later wearing her favourite jacket and carrying her empty backpack in front of her. She collects a book from the kitchen table, and then gently places her lunch on top, zipping everything up.</p><p>After putting her backpack on, she looks around to make sure her aunt is already in the car, and then snatches the bucket from the counter. </p><p>“Don’t worry, Ponyo,” She grins, “I won’t leave you here by yourself.”</p><p>Carrying the bucket carefully behind her back, Rey hops into her seat in the car and places the bucket on the floor in front of her. After hearing the seat belt click, Auntie Maz begins the drive down the hill and into Takodana. Rey used to go to preschool a couple of blocks away from Maz’s work at the retirement home, but now that she is in kindergarten her school is right next door. </p><p>With the sound of the car’s music to cover, Rey leans over to put her face near the bucket.</p><p>“Ponyo,” she whispers, “are you ok?”</p><p>All Kylo can do is give her a nod and a blink, and hope that that is sufficient. What an adventure, meeting two humans and now on the way to some place called school! Though the girl continues to address him as Ponyo and not his name, Kylo, he must admit the new name is growing on him. </p><p>Only a couple of minutes later, Rey lets out a soft gasp. Luckily, traffic is pretty bad today so Maz thinks she is gasping at the back up at the main intersection. Really, Rey has just realized that if Ponyo was asleep when she found him, he probably did not have any breakfast.</p><p>Quietly, she opens her backpack and examines the contents of her lunch. Rey does not know what regular fish eat, but hopes that magical fish like Ponyo will enjoy ham. Peeling some of the meat out of her sandwich, Rey holds the ham down to him. </p><p>Curious by this offering from the girl Rey, Kylo takes it in his mouth. </p><p>The ham is gone in an instant - never has Kylo tasted anything so delicious! At his reaction to the food, Rey beams; her legs swinging and clapping softly. She is glad that Ponyo enjoyed the ham, because they always have lots of ham at Auntie Maz’s. </p><p>Looking out the window, Rey sees that they are almost at the parking lot for her school and her aunts work. As soon as Maz parks, Rey leaps out of the car and runs as fast as she can without wiggling the bucket, calling her goodbye to Maz out behind her.</p><p>Once in the schoolyard, Rey pauses, and looks down at the bucket.</p><p>“Ponyo,” she says with a frown, “I don’t think magical fish are allowed inside kindergarten.”</p><p>Rey surveys the yard for a suitable hiding spot, stopping when her gaze lands on the bushes against the fence. Walking over slowly - she doesn’t want to get any attention - Rey steps around the back of the bush and sets the bucket down.</p><p>“Here.” With her hands on her hips, Rey looks down at Ponyo and nods, whispering, “don’t worry, I’ll come back for you! Now I have to go to school.”</p><p>Unsure of exactly what is happening, Kylo goes for what is becoming his usual routine of a blink and nod, before Rey waves and runs away. Off to do whatever school is, probably. </p><p>As Rey walks back toward school, her classmate Isabella runs up to her.</p><p>“Whatcha doin’?” Isabella asks as she rocks back and forth on her feet.</p><p>“Nothing.” Rey shrugs, trying to play it cool.</p><p>“What’s that you put in the bush?”</p><p>Before Rey can answer her playmate’s question, Isabella is bounding off in the direction of the bush where Ponyo is hidden. Rey has no choice but to follow. This time, when she rounds the corner to the back of the bush, she sees Isabella leaning over the bucket, frowning. </p><p>“What is it?” Isabella asks.</p><p>Rey sighs. “It’s Ponyo, a magical fish that I found this morning.”</p><p>Isabella puts her face even closer to the bucket, squinting at Ponyo, before standing up.</p><p>“What is the big deal about it? It is just a boring fish.”</p><p>Rey scoffs, knowing full well that Ponyo is in fact, not just a boring fish. In his bucket, Kylo narrows his eyes at the other human girl, annoyed at being called boring. Seeing the offense on Rey’s face at the remark, he decides that he must act; Rey is his friend, after all. She gave him this nice bucket and a new name.</p><p>She is nice, and he is not just a boring fish. </p><p>So he squirts the other girl in the face with water. </p><p>Isabella gasps and Rey gapes. Wiping the water away from her face, Isabella stomps away. As soon as she is gone, Rey starts laughing. She laughs for a long time, seeing the image of Isabella’s frowny face getting covered with water replay in her head. </p><p>Kylo has never heard a human laugh before, but he thinks it might be the best sound ever.</p><p>“Who’s there?” A shock of white hair emerges over the top of the fence, followed by two electric blue eyes.</p><p>“Hi Obi!” Rey waves, “It’s just me.”</p><p>Obi is one of the elderly people at the retirement home. Obi, his best friend Ani, and Ani’s wife Padme are Rey’s favourite people from her aunt’s work. They always regale her with stories from their past, usually including adventures and one of them rescuing the other. </p><p>“Ah! Rey. Why don’t you come on over?” Obi waves his hand toward the gate that connects the schoolyard with the lawn of the retirement home. </p><p>Rey looks at the gate, back at the school, and then down at her bucket. She can’t be sure, but she thinks that Ponyo gestures his head toward the gate, so she shrugs, and walks down to greet Obi. </p><p>“Now what have you got with you today, young one?” Obi leans on his cane with both hands, to get closer to the bucket. Rey lifts it up so he doesn’t have to bend so much.</p><p>“This is Ponyo, he’s my magic fish.” Rey gives Obi her signature toothy grin. </p><p>Obi raises his eyebrows. “A magic fish, you say,” he strokes his beard. </p><p>“Is that Rey?” A female voice calls from behind where Obi stands.</p><p>While Obi continues to inspect Ponyo, Padme and Ani walk toward him hand in hand. Maz says that they’ve been married for ever, and known each other even longer; Rey hopes one day she can find someone who loves her the way that Ani and Padme love each other. </p><p>“Hi Ani, hi Padme.” Rey smiles. </p><p>“Little Rey says she has found a magic fish!” Obi takes a step back to let his friends see Rey’s bucket.</p><p>“Magic?” Padme leans forward to look at the fish, “wow! What a pretty little fellow he is. And does he have a name?”</p><p>“I named him Ponyo.” Rey states proudly.</p><p>“What a great name, Rey.” Padme gives her a soft pat on the head, before gesturing to her husband.</p><p>“Ani, come take a look. It really is a beautiful fish.”</p><p>Ani frowns and mumbles something about not trusting magical fish, but steps forward nonetheless. As soon as he peers over the edge to see Ponyo, his frown only deepens, and he harrumphs.</p><p>“Would you look at that,” Ani narrows his eyes at Rey before continuing to scowl at Ponyo. “I don’t trust this fish...there’s something odd about it.”</p><p>Not that Rey is able to understand Kylo anyways, but if he had known that school was going to be about lots of other humans staring at him and several of them calling him boring and odd, he would have asked Rey to leave him at home. </p><p>For the second time since embarking with Rey on her journey to school, Kylo squirts water at a human. Padme gasps as her husband’s face gets soaked with water, and Obi doubles over in laughter. </p><p>Funny as it may have been, Rey immediately wishes that Ponyo had not sprayed Ani because the commotion caused by everybody’s reaction attracts the attention of Auntie Maz, who is not happy to see Rey with the old folks and not at school. She stomps over towards them on the grass. Not wanting to wait for a punishment or scolding, Rey holds the bucket tight to her chest and scurries away, making for the beach at the edge of the lawn. </p><p>Her aunt shouts after her, but Rey only walks faster, her little legs moving as fast as they can while keeping the bucket level. </p><p>Rey looks down at the bucket, “sorry Ponyo. I’m going to get in trouble for not being at school so that’s why I’m running away. We can hide at the beach.”</p><p>As Kylo blinks up at Rey, he wonders if he will be punished for leaving the vessel the way she seems to fear being for missing school. Suddenly, he remembers that his name was not always Kylo; that that was a name Luke chose for him. If he had no problem with Luke choosing a new name, then he doesn’t really mind Rey choosing one either. In fact, Ponyo is a much better name than Kylo. When he goes back to the ocean, he’ll have to tell Luke. </p><p>Rey slows down when they reach the shoreline, sitting down and putting the bucket beside her. She breathes deeply to try and calm her racing heart. </p><p>Having only just succeeded in calming down after the excitement of running from her aunt, Rey starts to panic as the waves become choppier and creep up the sand toward her and her bucket. She stands, holding the bucket to her chest, and watches, surprised as the waves grow several feet taller than her own head and form a circle around where she stands. </p><p>Kylo realizes he has the answer to his question - he is in trouble, and Luke has come to get him. </p><p>Rey gasps as a man’s face emerges from the waves. In her shock, she drops the bucket. </p><p>The man catches it, and gives her a nod before retreating back into the ocean. The waves return to their normal state once he disappears. Once she realizes that her bucket and Ponyo are gone, Rey falls onto her bum and dissolves into tears. </p><p>Distantly, she hears her aunt calling her name but she makes no move to get up, saddened by the loss of her new friend. </p><p>“Rey! Rey!” Auntie Maz runs up to her and pulls her in close, kissing the top of her head. “Rey, my love, I’m so glad you are alright! I saw those crazy waves from up the beach and was worried you got swept up in them.”</p><p>Rey buries her face against her aunt’s chest and only sobs harder.</p><p>“Rey?” Maz pries Rey away from her body to look her up and down. “Are you hurt?”</p><p>Rey shakes her head, bringing one little fist up to her face to scrub at her tears.</p><p>“Then what’s wrong, sunbeam?”</p><p>Rey looks out at the ocean, and then back up at her aunt. “Ponyo.”</p><p>Maz frowns. “Your magical fish?”</p><p>Rey sniffs.</p><p>“Did Ponyo get swept away in the wave, my love?”</p><p>More tears fall from Rey’s eyes as she nods, her lips curled in a pout.</p><p>“Oh, Rey. I’m so sorry that you lost your magical fish friend.” Maz pulls her niece in, and lifts her up to carry her away from the beach and back to school. “I’m sorry. He seemed like a really special fish, I’m sure he’ll be okay.”</p><p>Rey doesn’t speak a single word to her aunt, or to anybody at school that day.</p><p> </p><p>Kylo - or maybe he should call himself Ponyo now, he’s not sure - for his part, does not have a good rest of his day either. After Luke had come to the beach to collect him, he had endured a pointed, ugly silence on the journey back to the submersible. Once they had returned, Luke had promptly dumped him out of the bucket and locked him underneath a bubble. </p><p>The first several minutes being stuck under the bubble, he was forced to listen to Luke berate and scold him for running away.</p><p>“Kylo, you don’t understand. Humans are dangerous and they cannot be trusted!”</p><p>Kylo shakes his head. “I don’t want to be called Kylo anymore; my name is Ponyo.”</p><p>Scoffing, Luke sneers, “Ponyo? Is that what that little girl called you?”</p><p>He nods. “Rey is my friend, and I love her! I want to be a human boy so I can play with her.”</p><p>“Foolish child, when I found you you were nothing but a regular fish. It is only thanks to me that you have begun to learn the ways of magic. And now you want to repay me by leaving?”</p><p>Ponyo closes his eyes and grunts, pouring all of his magical power into his body. Luke gasps, and when Ponyo opens his eyes...he has legs! And arms! Like a human boy! He is still trapped under the bubble, which has expanded to fit his new shape.</p><p>“Ponyo loves Rey! Humans are not bad, they are nice. Especially Rey and her aunt. Please let me go back to them.” Ponyo implores Luke, hoping that the wizard will see reason. </p><p>But Luke shakes his head, “I am disappointed, Kylo. I expected more from you.”<br/>
With a wave of his hand, the arms and legs Ponyo had tried so hard to sprout disappear. And with a snap of Luke’s fingers, Ponyo is sent into a deep sleep. </p><p> </p><p>At the same time as Ponyo is cast into a magical slumber, Rey and Maz have just finished dinner and are preparing to go to bed. This time, when Rey uses her heavy duty signal-light, she sends two messages. One to her parents, and one to Ponyo. She isn’t sure if fish know Morse Code, but she thinks maybe Ponyo’s magic will help him figure it out. </p><p>Out of respect for the young girl’s sadness at the lost fish, Maz lets Rey stay up a little longer than usual, looking out the window for an answer to her messages. One day, she will need to tell Rey the truth about her parents. That they are never coming back. Deep down, she thinks that Rey knows; she is a sharp little thing, even at the age of six. </p><p>But having lost her new friend Ponyo earlier today, now is not the right time. </p><p>So, Maz lets Rey sit on the couch looking out the window over the bay until the girl’s eyes start to droop, and then she carries her to bed. </p><p> </p><p>In the morning, Ponyo wakes with a start. He is still trapped under the bubble, but Luke is nowhere to be seen - probably off doing his morning meditation. Now is Ponyo’s chance to escape. As he squirms in the bubble, his friends awake in the tank next to him. </p><p>His friends are other fish - of a variety of species and ages - that he and Luke have found in their travels across the waters of the world. Most, like Ponyo was, were found in the wreckage of a terrible storm. Some were trapped in garbage, others, simply lost and injured. </p><p>They are happy with Luke. He has given them all a home, a family of sorts. And training in his ways of magic. </p><p>But now, having discovered Rey and her life above the surface, Ponyo wants desperately to be a part of her world. </p><p>The more he wiggles underneath the trappings of his bubble, the more his friends wake up and start to pepper him with questions.</p><p>“Kylo, what’s going on?”</p><p>“Where’d you go yesterday, Kylo?”</p><p>“Luke seemed angry at you, what happened?”</p><p>“Kylo, are you-”</p><p>Ponyo groans, and stops his movement momentarily. “Yesterday, I went to the surface and I met a human girl named Rey. She gave me the name Ponyo. We are best friends and I love her, and I’m going back.”</p><p>His friends collectively gasp at his revelation, instantly flooding him with more questions.</p><p>“Look,” he says. “I am going to escape from this bubble and go back to find Rey.”</p><p>Closing his eyes, he focuses on channeling his magic into a method of escape. Once again, gasps sound from the tank next to him, and Ponyo opens his eyes to find that he has once again grown arms and legs. This time, he also has teeth. </p><p>With a large bite, he snaps the bubble open and stumbles forward onto the floor. Unsteady on his new legs, he accidentally knocks over some vials of Luke’s, which shatter on the floor in a flash of various colours. As the magical substances pour out of the vials and into the room, a strange feeling washes over Ponyo. </p><p>When the feeling subsides, he notices two things.</p><p>First, the room is flooding with water, and fast.</p><p>Second, Ponyo has transformed into a human boy. Looking down in the quickly rising water, Ponyo sees his reflection; dark hair, brown eyes, pale skin dotted with moles. He is dressed in a white shirt and orange pants, reminiscent of his colouring as a fish. </p><p>As the water level rises higher, he looks back to the tank where his friends live.</p><p>“Go!” They shout at him in encouragement. “Go Ponyo, go find Rey!”</p><p>With an enthusiastic wave goodbye, Ponyo turns around. Using his magic, he stands on top of the water and rides the wave out of Luke’s vessel and to the surface of the ocean. When he gets there he sees that a massive storm is occurring - huge waves crash over each other as the wind howls and rain spatters erratically on his face. </p><p> </p><p>Across the bay, Rey runs out of school with the rest of her friends. Due to the severity of the oncoming storm, everybody is being sent home early before it is too dangerous to be out and about. Turning the corner, she runs right into her aunt.</p><p>“Rey! Did they send you home?”</p><p>Rey nods, shuddering under the rain and biting winds. Her aunt hugs her close.</p><p>“Alright. Let’s get home before the waves get on the roads.”</p><p>Rey jumps into her place in the backseat, and Maz grabs a spare blanket from the trunk before hopping behind the wheel. Once buckled, Maz tosses the blanket back to Rey, who is still shivering. </p><p>Off they go, on their drive home. The windshield wipers work furiously as the water pounds the car from every direction. Looking out the window, Rey sees waves climbing on top of each other; higher, higher, and higher yet. In the distance, she can see something white and orange on top of one of the larger waves. </p><p>Rey squints, unable to make out exactly what it is.</p><p>Maz swerves to avoid water that creeps over the edge of the roads - luckily there is nobody else out for them to crash into. Once the car regains traction, they make their final ascent up the hill to their home. Turning to look out at the waves once more, Rey sees that the orange and white figure is closer.</p><p>It appears to be....a boy? A boy with dark hair, a white shirt and orange pants, is running on top of the ocean. Pressing her face almost right up against the window, the boy is now close enough that Rey can make out his pale skin. Their eyes meet, and he smiles, waving happily at her. </p><p>The car stops. </p><p>They have made it home. </p><p>Rey frowns, wondering if that strange boy is magical the same way that Ponyo was, and if that is why he can run on water. Climbing out of the car, Rey starts to fold up her blanket when she hears someone shout her name from down the street.</p><p>It’s that boy.</p><p>Rey turns to face him, and drops her blanket as he runs at her full tilt. Eyes wide in anticipation, Rey can only stare as he comes closer and closer, until suddenly the little boy has wrapped her in a tight embrace.</p><p>“Rey?” Maz is confused, having just climbed out of the car to see her niece hugging a little boy who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. “Rey, do you know this boy?”</p><p>The boy lets go of Rey and looks at her with a playful grin. Rey looks him up and down. His clothes are odd - between the colouring of his clothes and no shoes on his feet. When she looks at his face, she notices that he has a scar across one of his eyes, just like…</p><p>“Ponyo?” Rey whispers.</p><p>He nods, shouting “Rey!” exuberantly. </p><p>“Come on children, let’s get in the house before everything gets even crazier.” Maz ushers them inside.</p><p>Once they are indoors, Maz wraps the kids in towels and sets about preparing some hot tea and noodles for dinner. Ponyo and Rey sit on the couch, watching with their eyes wide as the waves crash against the shore. This might be the worst storm Rey has ever seen - worse even than the one when her parents disappeared.</p><p>When the food is ready, Maz calls them over to the table.</p><p>Concerned about his understanding of their world - Ponyo was a fish just yesterday, after all - Rey pulls out his chair for him, and gestures for him to climb up. He obliges, and once seated brings his face within a couple of inches of the bowl in front of him.</p><p>“Is this ham?” Ponyo asks.</p><p>Rey shakes her head. “No, this is noodles and broth.”</p><p>Ponyo hums. “It smells so good, I thought maybe it was ham.”</p><p>Maz smiles at them both, watching as Rey shows her friend how to hold the utensils to collect noodles. Later, with their bodies warm and bellies full from dinner, they all relocate to the couch, and Rey prepares her light for the sending of her nightly message. </p><p>“What is that?” Ponyo asks, poking the apparatus curiously.</p><p>“It’s a signal-light,” Rey explains. “I use it to send messages to my parents, so they know I didn’t forget about them.”</p><p>“Your parents?” He tilts his head, looking at Rey.</p><p>“They are out fishing, but they’ll be back!” </p><p>Busy sending her message, Rey doesn’t notice Ponyo frowning beside her. When she’s done, Rey plops herself down on the couch next to him.</p><p>“I sent you a message.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Yesterday,” Rey hums. “After the man inside that big wave took you away, I sent you a message. That way you would know that I remembered about you.”</p><p>Ponyo raises his eyebrows in surprise. That might be the nicest thing anybody has ever done for him. Rey gives him a wide grin, and holds his hand tightly. They sit there together, hand in hand, listening to the sound of the storm until it quiets down and they slowly drift off to sleep. </p><p>They are awoken from their nap to the sound of Maz putting on her boots. Sitting up to look out the window, they can see that the storm has passed but some water has been left behind, flooding the streets and terrain. </p><p>Rey rubs at her eyes, “Auntie, where are you going?”</p><p>“I have to check on the retirement home, sunbeam.” Maz zips up her coat, “now that the storm is over, they might need some help cleaning up or adjusting to the flooding.”</p><p>She walks out the door with Rey and Ponyo at her heels. </p><p>After buckling her seat belt, Maz rolls down the window to yell, “Rey. You’re in charge!” </p><p>The niece and aunt exchange a thumbs up, before Maz drives away down the hill. When they are inside the house, Rey grabs a blanket from her room, and covers herself and Ponyo back up. Once more, they drift off to sleep. </p><p> </p><p>“Rey! Rey come look!” </p><p>Rey opens her eyes to see Ponyo’s face right in front of hers. She blinks several times.</p><p>“What is it, Ponyo?”</p><p>Ponyo does not answer, instead grabbing Rey by the hand and dragging her out from under the blanket and toward the front window. Rey gasps.</p><p>The ocean has been brought to their doorstep; the entire house is surrounded by water. If they walked out the door, they would only be able to make it a couple of paces before their feet would be underwater. </p><p>Eyes wide, Rey turns to Ponyo. “What about Auntie Maz and all the elderly people?” Her eyes brim with tears.</p><p>Ponyo turns his head, looking around the house for anything that might be useful, and stops when his eyes land on Rey’s little toy boat. He reaches out to grab Rey’s hand, and squeezes it gently. </p><p>“Look.” He grabs the boat, and walks out the door, placing it on top of the water.</p><p>Closing his eyes, Ponyo breathes deeply and imagines a boat big enough for them to sail away on. When he opens his eyes, the boat has enlarged. Turning back to the house, he sees Rey wiping her tears, eyes wide.</p><p>“Wow.” Words fail her, having just witnessed some amazing magic. </p><p>To prepare for their journey to find Maz, they pack some towels, two water bottles, another one of Rey’s buckets, and a thermos with extra noodles from dinner. Rey lends Ponyo one of her jackets so that they can both stay warm if the storm acts up again.</p><p>And they set off. </p><p>It is strange, to be sailing past the tips of trees and see the tops of other hills in the distance. The two kids sail past all sorts of debris, and eventually encounter two parents and a baby who sit on top of a large panel of wood. </p><p>Stopping the boat next to them, Rey tosses them one of her towels. The parents use the towel to wrap up the baby. Watching Rey’s act of generosity toward the shivering people, Ponyo realizes he can do something too.</p><p>Ponyo holds out the thermos, “Hot noodles.”</p><p>The woman gratefully accepts, bowing her head in thanks before taking a couple sips of the broth. </p><p>As Ponyo and Rey continue their journey, Ponyo takes one look back at the family and closes his eyes, imagining the three of them filled with warmth. Hopefully, even from this far away, his magic worked to keep them warm.</p><p>The closer they get to their destination, the more weary Ponyo feels - he wonders if he has used too much magic today, and if that is why he is so sleepy. At a certain point, they reach a stretch of road that is not flooded. As soon as they step foot on the ground, the boat shrinks back to its regular toy size. </p><p>“Look, Ponyo!” Rey shouts, pointing up the road.</p><p>Maz’s car is there, just sitting in the middle of the street. </p><p>“Maz!” Rey calls her aunt’s name as she runs toward the car, her voice trailing off when she sees that the car is empty and Maz is nowhere to be found.</p><p>“She’s not here?” Ponyo asks, having run to catch up to Rey.</p><p>Rey shakes her head, shoulder drooping in dismay.</p><p>Ponyo walks up to her and takes her hand in his. “Don’t worry, we will keep looking!”</p><p>They smile at each other, and after collecting all of their supplies, walk down the road hand in hand. After a while, they arrive at a tunnel. Gripping Ponyo’s hand even tighter, Rey takes the first step into it. </p><p>And suddenly, Rey’s hand is empty. Looking down, she sees Ponyo has returned to fish form and is flopping around on the road. Gasping, Rey gently picks Ponyo up and places him in her bucket, then runs to the side of the road to scoop some water in with him. </p><p>“You must be Rey,” A voice sounds behind her.</p><p>She turns slowly to face him, and takes a quick step back when she realizes that it was the man who took Ponyo away at the beach yesterday.</p><p>“My name is Luke. I’m a wizard from the sea.” He gestures at the bucket, “Kylo, or as you call him, Ponyo, lives with me in our vessel under the ocean.”</p><p>Rey frowns. “Why are you here?”</p><p>“Because, Kylo is a fish. He is learning the ways of magic, yes, but he has far exceeded his ability in his effort to be here with you.” Luke strokes his beard, “this is why the weather is so strange, the storm so violent. The natural order has been upset.”</p><p>Narrowing her eyes at the wizard, Rey looks around. “Can you fix it?”</p><p>“No,” Luke states, matter of factly. “Don’t worry, nobody has been hurt. I have cast some magic to keep everybody under the water safe - including your aunt and the retirement home. Although, I’m afraid I cannot keep them safe forever, even my magic has its limits.”</p><p>“If you can’t fix it, why are you here?”</p><p>Luke shrugs. “I can’t fix it, but you can. Give Kylo back to me. If I take him back to our submersible, order will be restored.”</p><p>“Do you promise?”</p><p>Luke smiles, “I promise.”</p><p>Rey lifts the bucket up close to her face, eyes sad as she looks at Ponyo. While she is happy that he worked so hard on his magic to come back to see her, she can see how Luke is right about everything being upset by the magic. As Ponyo blinks up at her, she wonders if he is sad to say goodbye.</p><p>“I’ll see you again, Ponyo,” Rey whispers at him. </p><p>Then, she walks slowly toward Luke and solemnly holds the bucket out to him.</p><p>“Thank you.” Luke says, before disappearing into the water by the side of the road.</p><p>Mere seconds later, and the water begins to recede, revealing the rest of the world Rey is used to. Up ahead is the retirement home, and when Rey sees her aunt walk out the front door she runs to her. They embrace, and swap stories of their adventures in the flood.</p><p>Rey laughs as Maz tells her that apparently, whatever magic Luke had used to keep the retirement home safe had given the seniors more energy - Padme, Ani, and Obi had been dancing on the lawn! Maz smiles sadly when Rey explains that she had to give Ponyo back, because all the magic had caused an imbalance. </p><p> </p><p>The story of the flood is one that citizens of Takodana tell for the rest of their lives. </p><p> </p><p>********</p><p> </p><p><b>Part Three</b><br/>
It had taken some time, but at a certain point Rey did accept that her parents were not coming back. Maz had been surprised, when one day, the girl had suggested over breakfast that they hold a funeral. They did.</p><p>Rey knew that her parents were gone and never returning, but she always knew that there was someone else, someone who still could come back.</p><p>So even now, as an adult woman who runs the Takodana library and volunteers at the animal shelter, Rey uses her signal-light to send a message out every night. Maz had no other family, so when she passed away in her sleep a couple of years ago, the house on the hill was left to Rey.</p><p>In the twenty years since she said goodbye to Ponyo, she has sent him a message every night. No reply as of yet, but she hasn’t lost hope.</p><p>Today is one of Rey’s favourite days: Story Time. Every Thursday afternoon, locals bring their preschoolers in and have them sit on the multicoloured carpet while Rey reads them a couple of stories. She is just in the middle of her last story for the day when she notices a man enter the library. A man she has never seen before.</p><p>Rey thinks nothing of it, he is probably a tourist, and gets back to her story. </p><p>Later, after saying goodbye to all the children and their parents, Rey is cleaning up the cushions and toys from the floor when she sees the same man from before, leaning against the front counter. He has shoulder length black hair, and from this angle she can only see his profile. He is quite tall, with a face defined by its pale skin and aquiline nose. </p><p>“I’ll be with you in just a second, sir.” She calls over to him, and he nods. </p><p>Once the story time materials are back in their tub, she makes her way behind the counter, a stack of storybooks for reshelving in her hands.</p><p>Rey puts on her customer service smile, and looks up at the stranger, “how may I help yo-”</p><p>She trails off when their eyes meet, unsure what it is exactly about him that is so familiar. His whiskey-brown gaze is unlike anything she has ever seen, except for maybe...no. She can’t place it. Up close, now she can see that his face is dotted with beauty marks and moles, and the tracings of a faint scar are visible across his right eye and cheek.</p><p>“Hi.” He nearly whispers, his low voice making Rey shudder involuntarily, “You must be Rey, the librarian.’</p><p>Rey nods, “yes. What can I help you with today?”</p><p>The man rubs his chin, before leaning toward her slightly across the counter.</p><p>“Well, Rey. I’m actually not here about any library related matters, but I was at the cafe across the street and they told me that you are the woman who lives in that house on the hill.”</p><p>With narrowed eyes, Rey nods. “Why do you care about where I live?”</p><p>The man works his jaw for a beat, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before speaking again. </p><p>“You see, Rey. I had a friend when I was a boy, her name was Rey and she lived in a house on a hill with her aunt,” he pauses to run a hand through his hair. “As ridiculous as it seems, I thought maybe that you might be that Rey from my childhood.”</p><p>Rey frowns and begins to shake her head, sad to have let this man down in his search for a playmate from his youth, but then takes a step back and really looks at him. She takes in his dark hair, the paleness of his skin and the constellation of marks that grace it, the shape of his nose and the scar across his face. </p><p>She wonders what he might have looked like as a child. </p><p>And then she gasps, taking a step back.</p><p>“Ponyo?” She whispers, incredulous.</p><p>The man blinks once slowly, and then several times in rapid succession before something like joy illuminates his face. Years of travelling the coastlines in countries across the world, in search of a house on a hill and a girl with a laugh like sunlight, and here she is. </p><p>“Hi, Rey.” He runs a hand through his hair, laughing nervously. “My, uh...my name is Ben, by the way.”</p><p>She rounds the counter to stand near him, maybe closer than she ought to, and holds out her hand.</p><p>“Hi, Ben.”</p><p>When their hands touch, it feels like going home. Reluctant to let go, they do anyways. Ben sticks his hands in his pockets, rocking slightly on his heels.</p><p>“I’m glad you remember me. I wasn’t sure if...well, I missed you.” Ben scans her face, unsure of what she will say after all this time.</p><p>Rey smiles. “I sent you messages you know. Every night.”</p><p>His eyes widen in shock, eyebrows almost in his hairline. Before he can respond to her confession, Rey jumps up to wrap her arms around his neck. Ben brings his arms around her waist, and spins them softly as they smile into each other's necks and cry happy tears.</p><p> </p><p>Long after they have caught each other up on the last twenty years - Maz’s death and college for Rey, learning enough magic to be human permanently without throwing the world into chaos for Ben - they return to the house on the hill. </p><p> </p><p>Ben and Rey live in that house for the rest of their days. </p><p> </p><p>Every morning before they leave the house, they take their kids down the hill to the shoreline where they first met, all those years ago. And when the kids ask for the origin of their dad’s odd nickname, Ponyo, Rey and Ben just laugh and say it is a funny story from their childhood.</p>
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